EU says it will decide on Tuesday next steps on Italy budget

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission will discuss and decide on Tuesday the next steps in the procedure for assessing Italy’s 2019 draft budget, a Commission spokesman said on Monday.

The EU executive confirmed it had received a reply from Italy on its budget by a Monday deadline, after the Commission said last week the country’s budgetary plan was in clear breach of EU fiscal rules and demanded clarifications from Rome.

“Tomorrow the Commission will discuss the procedure and will determine the next steps,” the spokesman told a news conference.

On Tuesday the EU Executive holds its weekly meeting.

Under EU rules, the Commission has time until Oct. 29 to decide whether to send back the budget to Rome for changes.

If it did so, Italy would have three weeks to amend its budgetary plans from the date of the Commission’s rejection.

The stand-off could be prolonged for weeks if the budget remained unchanged.